I don’t know that I’ve ever seen a more fun and original take on a very old movie trope – the underdog story. While it may be When We Were Kings that gets “sweded” in Be Kind Rewind, the movie is pure Rocky. Mos Def is the heir apparant to the last VHS-only story and the annoying Kramer character (Jack Black doing his thing) sets into motion a very unlikely scenario. Michel Gondry presents Passaic, New Jersey as Sesame Street – a mixed-race paradise of eager, underrepresented people bursting with creativity and discipline. I won’t deny that my eyes welled up during the world’s most low-budget (and fact-impoverished) Fats Waller documentary played on a hung bed sheet.
Be Kind Rewind is a love letter to the hand-made. Cutting and pasting with scissors and glue, not hitting CTRL C and CTRL P. In Gondry’s world, the cream will rise. Quality will win. The people’s voice will be heard.
O what irony to walk out of Be Kind Rewind to see Astoria’s first Applebee’s, still festooned with “Grand Opening” signs staring me in the face. Who wants to go down there to Swede one of their commericals?
